steven popkes - news

Home Updated 03/05/2017

News

03/05/2017: Each year there is a new Best American Mystery Stories edited by Otto Penzler plus an additional author. I've been approached about including The Sweet Warm Earth. I'm pretty excited about this. However, though I've been approached, consented and submitted my bio and notes on the story, no contract has yet been forthcoming. So we will see.

08/15/2016: My story, The Sweet Warm Earth, is in the September/October issue of F&SF. Here is F&SF's official site for that issue.

Here's a nice review.

05/10/2016: It's live! Welcome to Witchlandia is live. You can purchase it here:

Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Noble

05/03/2016: Haven't updated this in a long time. Not a lot of publishing news-- oh, wait! I have a new book coming out on on 5/10/2016: Welcome to Witchlandia.

You can pre-order it here:

Amazon

Kobo

iTunes

My Amazon author's page is here.

03/27/2013: Finally. On Spec has finally published 10 Things I Know About Jesus. The designation is "#091 - Winter 2012/2013 vol 24 no 4" when the current link changes.

02/14/2013: Very good news. Both Breathe and Sudden, Broken and Unexpected made the 2012 Locus recommended reading list. See it here for yourself. Also, I'll be at Boskone this weekend.

11/13/2012: Breathe is now on the stands in F&SF. A couple of good reviews here and here. Also, Sudden, Broken and Unexpected got a couple of nice reviews here and here.

11/2/2012: Two new items of interest. First, my novella Sudden, Broken and Unexpected is on the stands now. I even made the cover. My story Breathe will be in the very next issue of F&SF. I'll put it up when it is available.

8/30/2012: Once a year whether I need it or not.

My novella Sudden, Broken and Unexpected is scheduled to be in the upcoming December issue of Asimov's.

My story Breathe will be in the November-December issue of F&SF. That will become available in October.

More as more becomes known.

09/12/2011: It's been over a year since I updated this page. So, I'll update it now.

07/01/2011: Jackie's Boy appears in the Dozois Best of collection. See here.

05/15/2011: Agent of Change appears in F&SF. See here. Review here.

05/01/2011: Jackie's Boy appears in Hartwell and Cramer's Best of. See here. Review here.

12/24/2010: The Two of Us, After, published by Daily Science Fiction. See here.

11/01/2010: A lot of people liked Jackie's Boy. Three Best of's have asked for it. Which means, of course, it will never win an award. More as information becomes available. But here,'s a review.

09/14/2010: Living Dead 2 released. See here. Review here. An interview with me, here.

06/18/2010: Gordon (F&SF) bought Agent of Change (The Story Previously Known as Leviathan.) I'm glad it found a home.

04/15/2010: I didn't manage to get the Asimov's cover up when Jackie's Boy was published. It went by quickly. But here it is. Also, Gordon of F&SF sent me a copy of the cover where The Crocodiles is coming up. Here they both are.

An excerpt of Jackie's Boy is here. So far it's gotten good reviews.

03/16/2010: I haven't updated the news in a bit. There's a bunch going on.

First, Asimov's SF is publishing my story Jackie's Boy next month. Go out an buy it. Hot on its heels, F&SF is publishing The Crocodiles in June. I'll put up covers, etc., as they become available. Also, John Joseph Adams bout The Crocodiles for his anthology Livind Dead 2.

This Thursday, 3/18/2010, I'll be on Arlington Public Television as part of a panel on Science Fiction in New England. 6PM to 9PM, EST. Be there or be square. No streaming video of which I'm aware.

I've also joined the Book View Cafe. It's an artists cooperative publishing effort. My bookshelf is here. Two stories have gone up so far: Tom Kelley's Ghost and Doctor Couney's Island. I blog there every other week but I cross post the blogs so that what appears on the BVC blog site also appears on my regular blog site. Currently, my stories and blog entry go up every other week. My next blog entry will be this coming Sunday (3/21) and the next story, Holding Pattern, will go up the following Monday (3/22).

12/23/2009: Updated the convention schedule. See bottom.

12/11/2009: The Secret Lives of Fairy Tales scheduling is official. Check out F&SF here.

10/22/2009: Asimov's has tentatively scheduled Jackie's Boy for April/May, 2010.

10/19/2009: My story, The Secret Lives of Fairy Tales, is scheduled to be published in the January/February issue of F&SF. Go get a copy around the first of the year.

10/15/2009: Good news all around. My novella, Jackie's Boy, is going to be purchased by Asimov's and my novelette, The Crocodiles, is going to be purchased by F&SF. I'm becoming Inventory Boy.

08/15/2009: Oh, yeah. Worldcon. I'll be there.

07/06/2009:

Well, my story, Two Boys, is in the August 2009 issue of Asimov's.

And I'll be at Readercon this weekend. My schedule is:

Saturday 3:00 PM, Salon E: Panel

Is Darwinism Too Good For SF? Jeff Hecht (L), Caitlin R. Kiernan, Anil Menon, James Morrow, Steven Popkes, Robert J. Sawyer

This year marks the sesquicentennial of the publication of The Origin of Species and the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth. Considering the importance of the scientific idea, there has been surprisingly little great sf inspired by it. We wonder whether, in fact, if the theory has been too good, too unassailable and too full of explanatory power, to leave the wiggle room where speculative minds can play in. After all, physics not only have FTL and time travel, but mechanisms like wormholes that might conceivably make them possible. What are their equivalents in evolutionary theory, if any?

05/04/2009: Gordon Van Gelder bought The Secret Lives of Fairy Tales for F&SF.

02/12/2009: I'll be at Boskone this weekend. Here's the schedule.

Saturday: 10am: Workshopping Do's and Don't

Saturday: 04pm: Beyond Darwin

Sunday: Noon: Treachery for Fun and Profit

Be There or Be Square.

02/11/2009: Galleys submitted. I've been told "Two Boys" will be in the August issue.

09/25/2008: Sold "Two Boys" to Asimov's. This will be nice. Not only is it nice to see the story sold but it's the first time in Asimov's for a long time. Thanks, Sheila!

08/18/2008: Kathryn Cramer has made a list of writers who "you might think had won Hugos, or perhaps ought to have won a Hugo or two, or are just plain pretty good writers —— but haven't won a Hugo" here. Heck, I'll take it.

07/13/2008: I'll be at Readercon this year. Readercon starts this week. My schedule will be:

Saturday 2:00 PM, Salon G: Panel

The Fiction of Daniel Galouye, Current Cordwainer Smith Award Winner. Don D'Ammassa, Andy Duncan, Steven Popkes, Gordon Van Gelder Sunday 11:00 AM, ME/ CT: Panel

The Fermi Paradox Paradox. Michael A. Burstein, Jeff Hecht (L), Steven Popkes, Robert J. Sawyer, Ian Randal Strock

The Fermi Paradox--the absence of any evidence of extraterrestrial civilization despite the huge size and age of the universe--seems like it should be the basis for much hard sf. The paradox has numerous solutions (e.g., that nearly all civilizations quickly leave this reality and go somewhere else, or they destroy themselves as quickly, or they're consciously hiding from us), and all the solutions seem to be storyable. What sf writers have explored the paradox, and why are there so few of them? Is it because the vision of a galaxy essentially devoid of extraterrestrial intelligence is just a downer?

07/05/2008: "Another Perfect Day" published in the August 2008 F&SF.

04/30/2008: Looks like "Another Perfect Day" is scheduled for August 2008 in F&SF.

02/20/2008: Great fun at Boskone! Good panels. A couple of autographs.

01/15/2008: Here's another review of Bread and Circus.

01/03/2008: I received the magazine around Christmas. Here's a review of the issue including "Bread and Circus". And another one. I'm also on the list of most appearances ever in a Best Of List.

11/10/2007: Gordon has scheduled "Bread and Circus" for Feb. 2008 F&SF. Check it out.

06/13/2007: Gordon Van Gelder has just purchased “Another Perfect Day” for F&SF. It has not yet been scheduled.

01/17/2007: Gordon Van Gelder has just purchased “Bread and Circus” for F&SF. It has not yet been scheduled.

11/?/2006: Gordon Van Gelder of F&SF pointed me at this review of "Holding Pattern" in the July 2006 issue.

Convention Schedule

7/8 - 7/11/2010: Readercon

2/12 - 2/14/2010: Boskone

1/15 - 1/18/2010: Arisia

7/9 - 7/12/2009: Readercon. I'll be there

2/13 - 2/15/2009: I will be at Boskone:

7/17 - 20/2008: Readercon. I've been invited and have accepted.